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Hong Kong at the Olympics

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Hong Kong at the
Olympics
IOC codeHKG
NOCSports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China
Websitewww.hkolympic.org (in English and Chinese)
Medals
Ranked 74th
Gold
4
Silver
3
Bronze
6
Total
13
Summer appearances
Winter appearances

Hong Kong first competed at the Olympic Games in 1952. It competed as a British colony until 1996. After the handover in 1997, it has competed since 2000 as Hong Kong, China with its status as a special administrative region of China (SAR). Throughout its history, it has participated in every Summer Olympic Games since then except 1980 in support of the United States boycott, and in every Winter Olympic Games since 2002.

Hong Kong won its first medal and first gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics, its second gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, and also the third and fourth gold medals at the 2024 Summer Olympics. It has also won eight other medals: three silvers and six bronzes. Its best performance to date was in 2020, where it won one gold, two silver, and three bronze medals.

History

The first Olympic athlete from Hong Kong was Yvonne Yeung, who competed in 1936 for the Republic of China (ROC) instead of British Hong Kong. The ROC, today mostly limited to Taiwan and a bunch of smaller islands, currently competes as Chinese Taipei. The National Olympic Committee (NOC) for Hong Kong was founded in 1950 as the Amateur Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, and is now known as the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China. It was recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1951, and subsequently, Hong Kong began to be represented separately from Great Britain (for any gold medal ceremony, the colonial flag of Hong Kong was raised and the British national anthem was played).

After Hong Kong was handed over to the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1997, the NOC for the new special administrative region (SAR) of China has now been known as Hong Kong, China. Hong Kong maintains its own NOC and is represented separately from mainland China at the Olympics. This is understood to be a grandfathered policy though there is no written documentation evidencing this explanation.[1] In contrast, while Macau also has its own NOC, it is not recognised by the IOC and could only compete separately from mainland China in regional games like the Asian Games.[2]

For any gold medal ceremony, the Hong Kong SAR flag is raised and the PRC national anthem is played, even in situations where athletes from China win silver or bronze, resulting in the Hong Kong SAR flag flying above that of China. This is nevertheless permitted under the constitution promulgated by the PRC prior to the handover (specifically, Article 151, Chapter 7 of the Basic Law), which states that Hong Kong "may, on its own, [...] maintain and develop relations and conclude and implement agreements with foreign states and regions and relevant international organizations in the appropriate fields, including the economic, trade, financial and monetary, shipping, communications, tourism, cultural and sports fields".[3]

In 2008, Hong Kong was the site of the equestrian venues for the Beijing Summer Olympics.

Medals by Games

See also: All-time Olympic Games medal table

Medals by sport

SportGoldSilverBronzeTotal
 Fencing3003
 Sailing1001
 Swimming0224
 Table tennis0112
 Cycling0022
 Karate0011
Totals (6 entries)43613

List of medallists

Medal Name Games Sport Event
 Gold Lee Lai-shan 1996 Atlanta Sailing Women's sailboard (Mistral)
 Silver Ko Lai-chak
Li Ching		 2004 Athens Table tennis Men's doubles
 Bronze Lee Wai-sze 2012 London Cycling Women's keirin
 Gold Cheung Ka-long 2020 Tokyo Fencing Men's foil
 Silver Siobhán Haughey Swimming Women's 200 metre freestyle
 Silver Women's 100 metre freestyle
 Bronze Doo Hoi-kem
Lee Ho-ching
Minnie Soo Wai-yam		 Table tennis Women's team
 Bronze Grace Lau Karate Women's kata
 Bronze Lee Wai-sze Cycling Women's Sprint
 Gold Vivian Kong 2024 Paris Fencing Women's épée
 Gold Cheung Ka Long Fencing Men's foil
 Bronze Siobhán Haughey Swimming Women's 200 metre freestyle
 Bronze Women's 100 metre freestyle

Multiple medallists

Athlete Sport Games Gold Silver Bronze Total
Siobhán Haughey  Swimming 2020, 2024 0 2 2 4
Cheung Ka-long  Fencing 2020, 2024 2 0 0 2
Lee Wai-sze  Cycling 2012, 2020 0 0 2 2

National Olympic Committee

Main article: Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China

The National Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, SF&OC, has been repeatedly warned by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) against corruption and to implement better governance. With Timothy Fok as president of the Olympic committee, there have numerous allegations of misconduct against the SF&OC and Fok. In August 2016, the Hong Kong Economic Journal released an article accusing the SF&OC and Fok of various transgressions.[4][examples needed] In April 2020, the government's Audit Commission released a 141-page report after investigating the Olympic committee, describing various failures with the SF&OC, including lax governance.[5] An editorial published by the South China Morning Post agreed with the Audit Commission and stating that the city's sports development was at risk.[6]

Athlete training

Main article: Hong Kong Sports Institute

The Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI) is a government-funded training center for elite athletes and potential Olympians in Hong Kong. It has been criticised for its decision to primarily fund 20 tier-A sports, including those not included in the Olympics and those which "may not even be able to achieve any breakthrough in the coming years", in turn neglecting support for other sport categories. After the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, where Hong Kong obtained its best Olympics result with five medals, Chung Pak-kwong – former chief executive of HKSI and a sports professor at Baptist University – claimed that Hong Kong's achievements at the Olympics had been disproportionate to the amount of resources invested. Chung suggested that the territory's sports developments should have translated to medals earlier, at the 2016 Summer Olympics (where it instead obtained zero medals). In one South China Morning Post article, an anonymous senior sports official suggested that Hong Kong adopt a more "medal-oriented strategy", recommending that more support be put towards sports that Asians have traditionally performed well in – such as archery or those with weight categories like judo – where "Asians are not at a disadvantage to stronger, bigger Westerners".[7]

Naming

Prior to 1997, the team's name was "Hong Kong"; after 1997, the team's name became "Hong Kong, China". In most[how?] other languages, this name is used for translation (e.g. French: Hong Kong, Chine; Russian: Гонконг, Китай Gonkong, Kitay; Simplified Chinese: 中国香港; Zhōngguó Xiānggǎng).[importance?] The Japanese team name is Honkon Chaina (ホンコン・チャイナ) and the Korean team name is Hongkong Chaina (홍콩차이나), using English transliterations of the word "China" instead of the native translation.[importance?]

See also

References

  1. ^ Leicester, John (30 July 2021). "As China absorbs Hong Kong, why do both get Olympic teams?". AP News. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  2. ^ "About the Sports and Olympic Committee of Macau, China". Sports and Olympic Committee of Macau, China. 2013-05-29. Archived from the original on 2013-11-18. Retrieved 2013-11-08.
  3. ^ "Basic Law Full Text – chapter (7)". Archived from the original on 2016-10-08. Retrieved 2010-02-13.
  4. ^ "How a cabal controls Hong Kong's Olympic sports EJINSIGHT – ejinsight.com". EJINSIGHT. Retrieved 2021-08-05.
  5. ^ Ng, Kang-chung (2020-04-29). "Hong Kong watchdog pans city's Olympic Committee over spending, lack of meetings and athlete selection criteria". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2021-08-05.
  6. ^ "Hong Kong's sport bodies should lift their game". South China Morning Post. 2020-05-02. Retrieved 2021-08-05.
  7. ^ Lau, Jack; Heng, Cheryl; Chan, Kin-wa (2021-08-09). "Tokyo Olympics was Hong Kong's 'greatest games' ever, but are more medals on the horizon or was this a flash in the pan?". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2021-08-09.
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